Speedwell of Rhu Ship's Log

19 th of July 2011 - Moving again

We left Baltasound under a bit of pressure as another Norwegian boat had come in the previous night and was too big to raft on Esmeralda. They were told by the harbour master that they needed to get onto the pontoon to make space for the tall ships and this meant taking our place on the inside. They were all ready at 0930, despite Andy and I having told them we were leaving at 1030. As the weather wasn't great they assumed we might be changing our mind about leaving, but we were keen to move on. We left promptly and sailed under genoa only, as the wind was northerly (AGAIN). We managed around 6 knots with one sail. There was a bit of swell which died down a little as we got into the lee of Unst and Fetlar. We headed into Mid Yell and got the boat ready with warps and fenders to moor against the pier. However, when we got close we both chickened out after looking at the depth sounder. It was quite windy and the anchorage was on the south side of the Voe so we decided to head to the next voe further north, Basta Voe. Once we got past a few fish farms we found a relatively sheltered place to stop which was made to feel a little more welcoming when a couple waved to us from their garden. We could also smell wood smoke so, although it was cold, grey and windy, it didn't feel quite as desolate as it might have done. The fact that we could smell wood smoke from a fire should give you a good indication of the sort of temperatures we are getting here!

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